It is one of the busiest arterial roads in the south of Munich, and also ranks as a federal highway, but in parts it is more like a dilapidated connection between remote villages: Wolfratshauser Straße. It has significant gaps and safety problems, especially for cyclists. The 930 meter long section between Siemensallee and Josephinenstraße is therefore to be rebuilt. At the same time, a 50 meter long renovation of Noestrasse is planned in this area. The city council recently passed the relevant resolutions. Work will begin in early 2024 and should be completed by the end of 2026. Cost point: 13.8 million euros.
The Munich City Council can be sure of the applause of many road users and local politicians. Because they have long complained about the lack of a continuous footpath and cycle path connection along Wolfratshauser Straße. The traffic conditions at the Martha Maria Hospital in particular are considered to be precarious. In the future, a 50-centimetre-wide safety strip will separate the four-metre-wide pedestrian and cycle path from the B 11 carriageway. At the same time, the bus stop will be made barrier-free and arranged in such a way that it does not impede the flow of traffic as much as before. The stopping edges of the buses are to be extended from 18 to 23 meters. Furthermore, the building department wants to improve the condition of the road and the road drainage in the course of the conversion.
Cycle and footpaths between Solln and Obersendling are not separated
The proposal to keep pedestrian and bicycle traffic separate along the important connection between the districts of Solln and Obersendling has no chance of being implemented. The initiators of the Radentscheid put forward this wish. But such planning would have required complicated street drainage measures, major interventions in private property and in the landscape, according to the city administration. In addition, a plan approval procedure would have become necessary and possibly even expropriations, which would have delayed the road conversion by five to ten years, as the building department calculates. The contract negotiations for the purchase of land were “very difficult and very lengthy” anyway.
No one in City Hall doubts the importance of Wolfratshauser Strasse. It is classified as a “national trunk road” in the city’s traffic development plan. The aim of the planned conversion is now also to make it easier to cross this highway. Traffic islands are to be created at the intersections with Großhesseloher Strasse and Noestrasse. The city wants to keep interventions in the tree population to a minimum; at least eleven trees fall victim to the transformation. However, replacement plantings and the expansion of a grove north of Noestraße with plants typical of the location would more than compensate for the loss. The pedestrian and cycle path is led around an “ash tree that shapes the cityscape”. The “parking space balance” should also be positive for the project, especially due to twelve additional longitudinal parking spaces north of Großhesseloher Straße.